Why Japan's sumo bulls are heart of the action

Blood-shot eyes fixed menacingly on their foe and snorting furiously, two giant bulls smash into each other with shuddering force: in Japanese bullfighting, matadors need not apply.

Tongues hanging out and foam dripping from their mouths, the sweat-soaked beasts lock horns as barefooted handlers slap them on the backside and scream encouragement, risking life and limb beside the bovine battering rams, many of which weigh well over a tonne.

While the Spanish corrida faces mounting pressure from animal rights activists after being banned in Catalonia in the past few years, bullfighting on Japan's southern island of Okinawa continues to attract big crowds, including families with small children who peer excitedly through the metal bars at the spectacle just feet away.

A bloodless spectator sport dating back hundreds of years also known as bull sumo, champion prizefighters are called "yokozuna" -- like Japan's roly-poly wrestlers -- and lead a pampered life.

"In Spain the fight ends with the matador killing the animal," bullfighting historian Kuniharu Miyagi told AFP at a competition in the Okinawan town of Uruma.

"Here, if a bull gets frightened and loses its courage, the fight is over and both bulls, winner and loser, get to go home.

"We don't feel bullfighting is cruel in Okinawa," added Miyagi. "It's a way of life. Farmers used to bring their bulls together to fight for amusement.

"It takes five years to prepare a bull to fight, then it fights for at least five or six years. Cows that provide us with juicy steaks are slaughtered within a couple of years.

"Fighting bulls live far longer and in considerable luxury. Owners want their bulls to win so they spoil them with good food and give them a comfortable home environment to frolic in. Yokozuna bulls even retire to stud, so they have a happy old life."

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